dendrite

So yeah...found a bee nest on the edge of my lawn in the backyard. They look pretty active flying in and out of the hole in the ground. I like me some bees so I don't want to kill them. What do we have for ground nesting bees around here? They almost looked like honeybees, but I didn't get a great look since it was 8pm. Is there a humane way to get them to set up shop elsewhere?

Looks like you have it mulched well. I’m not sure it needs daily watering at this point. Stick your finger under the mulch and into the ground. If the top 1-2” is dry maybe give it a deep watering and wait a few days. If it’s moist...just leave it. They’re a shallow rooted plant, but they don’t like to be overwatered either. I had a cherry tree lose all of its leaves last summer after I planted it in the spring, but it put out a little new growth in September and then came back fine this spring. So you’ll probably be fine.

Overwatered maybe?

Now that you mention it I remember ID'ing that a couple years ago. I picked some seeds off of it and it definitely matches pics online. I now have no more room in my yard, but I need a basswood. lol

Interesting. Oak apple gall wasps. Mind blown.

Can anyone ID this seed? I don’t think it’s related to the leaves here, but idk for sure. It’s thin walled and hollow except for a little spikey seed. I have some at my house too, but idk which tree they come from. I thought it was a beech, but I guess those produce actual nuts? I know the leaf on the right is the basswood, but I’m unsure about the one in the left. I think it’s from a bushier/smaller potential tree and not a large deciduous.

Anyone got any good and safe trap ideas for cabbage worms? Also...a little update on the plan for diversification of the gm american chestnut trees I've been talking about. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ppp3.10061

How low do you cut it in the spring/now? Hell, I probably would've just let it grow out of control right through warm season this year until any weeds start growing above it and then keep it cut at 4". That looks like all dirt and crabgrass.

Thanks...that definitely looks like it. I had no idea what those looked like.

Can I get an ID on this? Is this big toothed aspen? I know older trees can get the rippled bark, but one of these looks kinda young for that. It seems to be flowering/putting out a lot of seed now. Tree 1...branches/leaves Tree 1...bough is the tree on the far left Tree 2...parent tree is in the back. Related youngin’ in the front Tree 2...parent. Lots of flowering up top? Tree 2...zoomed flowering at crown

2nd looks like a pignut hickory?

Well that's the problem. I've had the damage for years, but this is the first warm season where I've noticed crown dieback. It probably doesn't help that my bird feeders (suet) are right next to that tree.

Those do look like petunias though. And the leaves don't look like morning glories.

Petunias are tropical. They're not going to survive a winter. If you have one hanging nearby you could lose a branch or two and it could root into the ground.

What do I do with this crabapple? Looks like sapsucker lunch. Is there a worthwhile way to treat it or if it dies, it dies?

I see a lot of pissed off gypsies someday in the future. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/home-garden/2019/07/12/kentucky-trees-sudden-oak-death-coming/1613549001/

The previous owners here let everything get out of control and I've only recently made an effort to cut it back and get everything in check. I had a couple of yews that were like 30ft tall in front of the house. No thanks. Anyone know the best time to cut a rhody way back? I'm guessing in March before it starts putting out new growth?

Mine are out of control. I'm thinking of cutting it way back to almost nothing. Rhodies and forsythia too.

https://radicalmycology.com/educational-tools/other-fungi/mycorrhizal-fungi-101/ https://www.bio-organics.com/pages/specific-plants-trees-endo-mycorrhizae-and-ecto-mycorrhizae Lots of products out there on Amazon, but I'm still researching reviews.

Maybe try an endomycorrhizal inoculant treatment? I've thought about doing that with my trees since they're planted out in the lawn and not in the forest where there's abundant beneficial fungi. I have a bunch of trees that would benefit from ectomyccorhizal ones as well. (chestnuts, tulip poplar, hickory, willow, etc).

I’m on the waiting list with them for the darling 58 if/when it gets FDA approval. I’m growing natural mother trees here now.

Long, but good, read on the transgenic chestnuts. https://psmag.com/ideas/most-controversial-tree-in-the-world-gmo-genetic-engineering

I'd just be wary about introducing something not native that could damage more down the line than just EABs.

And yeah...more hope against EAB? https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-23216-6

They're coming.